Learning objectives:
Participants will be able to:
- Describe the range of mental health responses to climate change.
- Describe some of the factors that help people face the reality of climate change.
- Understand the creative ways that people cope with overwhelming feelings of fear, grief and hopelessness in relation to climate change.
- Discuss with their patients the positive mental health impact of working together with others for a cause they deeply believe in.
Abstract:
This hour-long podcast explores how coping with the mental health impacts of climate change can make us more effective at combating it. We hear stories about the challenges of facing the facts about climate change and feeling the emotions that come up including grief, hopelessness, and fear. Finally, we consider how taking action can actually lead us to greater strength, connection, and impact.
Outline
- Anne Bequette on PTSD from surviving a hurricane (4:30)
- John Kaiser on moving from climate denial to acceptance and advocacy (13:05)
- Chris Childs on what helps him cope with fear and grief about climate change (18:50)
- Maia Wikler on grief about climate change and how connection to the natural world helps (26:08)
- Ayla Zeimer on hopelessness for the future and how it affects the decision to have a child(30:10)
- Kate Schapira on talking about Climate Anxiety (38:50)
- Rachel Burger on the mental health benefits of joining with others to address climate change (45:35)
Discussion questions:
- One of the most surprising parts of the show is when 9 year old Chris Childs explains that his biggest fear about Climate change is facing the fact that humans are making the world worse. Why do you think this is the hardest part for a child?
- What do you think are the biggest obstacles today for people in facing the reality of the Climate Crisis and taking action?
- As a clinician, we are faced with the same existential threats from Climate Change as are our patients. How does this affect how we talk about it with them?
- Lertzman cautions us from using fear as a motivating factor to get people involved in fighting climate change. Does this resonate for you? What motivates you?
Links to additional resources:
Reading
An Inconvenient Truth
Al Gore
The Great Derangement
Amitav Gosh
Drawdown: the Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Climate Change
Paul Hawken
This Changes Everything
Naomi Klein
Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We’re In Without Going Crazy
Joanna Macy
Don’t Even Think About It: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Ignore Climate Change
George Marshall
The Madhouse Effect
Michael Mann & Tom Toles
The End of Nature
Bill McKibben
Learning to Die in the Anthropocene
Roy Scranton
Climate Shock: Economic Consequences of a Hotter Planet
Gernot Wagner & Martin L. Weitzman
The Uninhabitable Earth
David Wallace-Wells
General Resources for Learning About Climate Change
Climate Change: How Do We Know?
NASA Earth Science Communications
13 Misconceptions About Global Warming (Video)
Derek Muller
One Thing You Can Do—Know Your Climate Facts
Susan Shain & Esther Horvath—New York Time
Climate Change Myths
Skeptical Science
Climate Change & Mental Health
Climate Change’s Toll on Mental Health
American Psychological Association
First Step to Stop Eco-Grieving Over Climate Change? Admit There’s a Problem.
Judy Fahys—NPR
Climate Change and Mental Health: Risks, Impacts, and Priority Actions
Katie Hayes et al.—International Journal of Mental Health Systems
What Psychotherapy Can Do for the Climate and Biodiversity Crisis
Caroline Hickman—The Conversation
How Hope and Doubt Effect Climate Change Mobilization
Jennifer R. Marlon, et al.—Frontiers in Communication
We Need Courage, Not Hope, to Face Climate Change
Kate Marvel—OnBeing
Scientists Share Their Grief, Anger, and Hope Over Climate Change(Video)
Peter Sinclair—Yale Climate Connections
Climate Lab Playlist (videos)
Vox
Why Climate Change Does Not Scare Us (Yet)
Elke U. Weber—Climatic Change
Climate Change in the American Mind
Yale Center for Climate Change Communications
Coronavirus Doubters Follow Climate Denial Playbook
Yale Climate Connections
Talking About Climate Change
How to Talk Effectively About Climate Change
Max Boykoff—Scientific American
Reassessing Emotion in Climate Change Communication
Daniel Chapman, Brian Lickel, and Ezra Markowitz—Nature Climate Change
The Most Important Thing You Can Do to Fight Climate Change: Talk About It
Katherine Hayhoe—TED Talk
6 Tips for Talking to Kids About Climate Change
Anya Kamenetz—NPR
Is There a Climate ‘Spiral of Silence’ in America?
Edward Maibach et al.—Yale Program on Climate Change Communication
How to Talk About Climate Change so People Will Listen
Charles C. Mann—The Atlantic
The Secret to Talking About Climate Change (Video)
Our Climate, Our Future
The Role of Emotion in Global Warming Policy Support and Opposition
Nicholas Smith and Andy Leiserowitz—Risk Analysis
Children’s Books About Climate Change
Yale Climate Connections
Climate Justice
Lessons from 40 Years of Documenting Environmental Racism
Robert Bullard—The Revelator
7 Young Indigenous Activists Standing Up for Their Communities
Jackie Menjivar—DoSomething.org
Carbon Majors Cannot Put Their Interests Before Humanity’s Survival
Kumi Naidoo—Amnesty International
Why Climate Change is Anti-Justice (Video)
PBS Digital Studio
The Health Impacts of Climate-Related Migration
P Schwerdtle et al.—BMC Medicine
I Survived Climate Disaster, But I Don’t Want to Be a Climate Statistic
Marinel Ubaldo—Teen Vogue
Organizations
Institute for a Sustainable Future
NAACP Environmental & Climate Justice Program
UN Sustainable Development Goals
